Posted on 01/28/2008 7:27:44 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
John McCain heads into Tuesday's Florida primary facing resistance from not only his fellow candidates, but also from the leaders of conservative talk radio, who some suggest have put their reputations on the line, as well.
Talk radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh said that if McCain or Mike Huckabee are nominated, "it's going to destroy the Republican Party." Mark Levin calls the senator "John McLame." On Monday, Laura Ingraham said she was "concerned about the mental stability of the McCain campaign" and had cuckoo-clock sound effects accompany his words.
"Sen. McCain is a great American, a lousy senator and a terrible Republican," Hugh Hewitt told The Associated Press. "He has a legislative record that is not conservative. In fact, it is anti-conservative."
Yet with McCain winning primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and in a virtual tie with Mitt Romney for the lead in polls in Florida, the top radio personalities are facing the possibility that their words are having little effect.
Radio host Michael Medved said that the big loser in South Carolina was talk radio, "a medium that has unmistakably collapsed in terms of impact, influence and credibility because of its hysterical and one-dimensional involvement in the GOP nomination fight."
Its continued resistance to McCain will be ineffective and will hurt both the Republican Party and the radio industry, Medved said.
The long-running hostility toward McCain stems from his failure to follow conservative orthodoxy on issues including immigration, global warming and money in politics, Hewitt said. McCain's endorsement by The New York Times _ the newspaper conservative talkers love to hate _ was just another indignity.
Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, warned against any conclusion that talk radio hosts would be diminished if McCain were to win the GOP nomination.
"It will give them an opportunity to reposition themselves in a more independent and populist way," Harrison said. Talk show hosts aren't judged on whom they pick as a candidate, any more than the jobs of football announcers are on the line with their Super Bowl predictions, he said.
They're judged on ratings and revenue, and every indication is that the election season will be a boon for talk radio, he said.
Limbaugh picked up on that point on the air last week when he rebutted any analysis by the "drive-by media" that McCain's strong showing had been a rebuke to him. He noted that a chapter in one of his books was titled "My Success is Not Determined by Who Wins Elections."
"You nominate the nominee; I don't," he said. "This notion ... that I've been overcome here, McCain's beaten me back, that's not the way to look at this, because that whole line of thinking relies on the fact that you people have to be perceived as mind-numbed robots and that you are all a bunch of sponges and you sit out there and you have no brain and you have no independent thoughts. You just listen to what I say and you go act on it.
"We know that's not the case," he said. "It's never been the case."
It's a reflection of the muddled primary race that radio talkers are more fixated on whom they don't like _ McCain _ than any candidate who wows them.
"The mood is that everyone offers something and nobody offers everything _ and that's why there is so much confusion," said L. Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative media watchdog Media Research Center.
Hewitt said he would vote for Mitt Romney "if I was voting today," but he's not. He also likes Rudy Giuliani.
If McCain were the Republican nominee running against either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama, Hewitt said he would support McCain. So would most of his colleagues in talk radio, he said.
"It's not about taking your ball and going home," he said.
Come on guys and gals...McCain is 95% Republican...5% of the time!
Suit yourself. I am voting for the one conservative left in the race.
You get it. Republicans in the CA legislature are working against Schwartzeneggar just like Republicans in Congress will have to work against McCain. Arnold's health care bill got thrown into the garbage just today. Whew!
Hillary thanks you for your support.
Clear Channel Communications is a media giant by any definition of the word. This behemoth owns more than 1,200 radio stations as well as syndication companies and billboard advertising. The company owns Premier Radio Network which has the syndication rights to the Rush Limbaugh show, Glen Beck and a host of others. Premier boasts more than 90 radio shows in its stable and offers services to more than 4,600 affiliates. Clear channel also has a lucrative contract with Sean Hannity, which agrees to air his program on 80 of their stations through 2010. In addition, nearly every talk radio host in America relies on Clear Channel stations for a large portion of their audience. Talkers like Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and Mike Gallagher would suffer greatly if they were cut out by Clear Channel.
In a deal that has been in the works for some time, Bain Capital is leading a consortium that has offered to buy Clear Channel for the tidy sum of 19.5 BILLION dollars. The FCC recently approved the acquisition and Clear Channel execs expect the transaction to be finalized sometime in the first quarter of 2008. The fact that Romney’s company is purchasing CCC isn’t a problem. The governor’s liberal past and the way it’s being covered up and explained away is another matter.
I will not vote for him for any office, for any reason. I quit voting for him years ago, I've voted for some lousy Libertarians running against McCain, and I'll do it again.
McCain has Juan Hernandez working on his campaign team. Juan is a former Mexican Government Minister, and claims dual-citizenship. He is working to have an open border between the U.S. and Mexico, and wants to intensify the invasion of the U.S. by Mexico. He has no respect for U.S. sovereignty or for our culture with its ties to England and Europe.
No way will I support McCain for this unAmerican activity.
“Economically he will be good.”
How can you say that? No man who makes the claim that he’d like to see interest rates at 0% could ever be good for the economy except by accident.
I knew more than John McCain knows about how our economy works as a pimply-faced high school kid. That kind of ignorance and complete lack of understanding by McCain is inexcuseable.
And after the way McCain attempted to sell my nation and the nation by grandparents, parents, and relatives fought so valiantly for, to just send it spiraling down the Rio Grande... NEVER.
Not only is the man arrogant in the face of unflappable ignorance, he’s also a sell-out.
I disagree Rut. I think Limbaugh is right. If Paul McRombeeani is the choice, I write in Fred or sit it out. If McCain is the choice, I change my affiliation to independent.
I won't vote for the lesser of 5 evils again. That's what has gotten us to this point in the first place of having 5 RINOS to choose from.
Not me! Not again!
Ronald Reagan, when Governor of California, signed laws on abortion and raising taxes. What a politician does when a governor is quite different than when President.
I suspect that being a governor is a learning experience for what not to do when you’re president. Just a thought, not an excuse.
Just because some GOP are dumb enough to support McAztlan doesnt mean we all have to. A vote for McAztlan is a waste of a good conservative vote
I will not vote for McPAIN, and have already voted in CA. for Romney.
Considering McCain’s propensity for vindictiveness, I wonder where he stands on the Fairness Doctrine?
McCain would probably try to outlaw talk radio, if elected.
I love it, that says it all.
If McCain or Huckabee win the nomination I'll stay home.
Please read post 25
This has to do with the possible owner of the radio stations that Rush Sean Laura etc are talking on now and who the owner just may be.
It is my experience that you tend to say the things your possible boss might want you to say because your job is at stake...
I have a hard time with McCain too
Even if we forgive all past transgressions, I remained deeply concerned about his plans for: 1. Energy/environment, 2. Thwarting universal health care, 3. Judicial appointments, and 4. Supporting partisanship.
The wrong moves on Nos. 1 & 2 could lead soon to catastrophic monetary loss. The effects of 3 & 4 are more likely to be felt further down the road.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.